Wednesday January 7, 2026 - An energetic start in the South Atlantic

January 7, 2026

Day 39

After the natural moment of jubilation and emotion shared by the entire crew of The Famous Project CIC at the sight of the coveted Cape Horn yesterday in the early afternoon, the Maxi Trimaran IDEC SPORT happily continued the long starboard tack that began under the Andes Mountains.
Alexia Barrier, Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmür Hornell, Deborah Blair, Molly LaPointe, Támara Echegoyen, and Stacey Jackson sailed past the Isla de los Estados at an average speed of over 25 knots and are preparing to do the same at the end of the 39th day of racing with the Falkland Islands, an archipelago at the end of the world where the Union Jack, dear to Dee and Deborah, flies.
The eastern coast of Argentina is currently generously and copiously swept by powerful southerly winds, in which the sailors of The Famous Project CIC are finding ample opportunity to make good and fast progress north-east  despite the rough seas, towards the clear transition currently establishing itself off Mar del Plata, with north winds generated by an extension of the Saint Helena high.
This is an opportunity to make rapid progress northwards, on course and towards warmer conditions eagerly awaited by the sailors, who have been subjected to the cold and constant humidity of the southern oceans for more than two weeks. Increasingly comfortable with these high-speed, long-distance voyages, Alexia and her crew will enjoy downwind speeds for the rest of the week.
The time will come to make strategic gybes in the shape of a seagull's wing during the weekend, a prelude to an upwind episode off the Brazilian coast, in search of the south-easterly trade winds that they will negotiate reaching to the equator. Their time at the edge of the North Atlantic will depend on the efficiency and timing of these transitions.